The Songs of Bilitis

by Pierre Louÿs

translated by Alvah C. Bessie

illustrations by Willy Pogany

[1926, not renewed]

First published in Paris in 1894, this purports to be translations
of poems by a woman named Bilitis,
a contemporary and acquaintance of Sappho.
This caused a sensation, not only because finding an intact cache of
poems from a completely unknown Greek poet circa 600 B.C. would be
a miracle, but because of its open
and sensitive exploration of lesbian eroticism.
Actually Bilitis never existed.
The poems were a clever forgery by Pierre Louÿs--the
"translator"; to lend weight, he
had even included a bibliography with bogus supporting works.
Louÿs actually did have a good command of the classics,
and he salted Bilitis with a number of quotations
from real poets, including Sappho, to make it even more convincing.

Just because this is a fake does not detract from its literary value.
And just because it was written by a man did not
prevent it from acquiring cultural significance for Lesbians.
In fact, one of the earliest
organizations of Lesbians in the United States
was called the Daughters of Bilitis (although this could have been because
it was a reference that would elude most people).

Prior to the 1960s, in the US, English translations of Bilitis were
considered risqué enough to
warrant lavish privately printed limited editions.
This was a dodge to circumvent now-defunct censorship laws.
The version this particular etext is based on was printed in 1926,
and has sensual and very witty Art Deco illustrations by Wily Pogany.

For more information on the context of this work,
refer to my essay on Sappho.